"Today was very nearly what the Tories were calling 'two-tier Tuesday,'" said Politico.

The Sentencing Council had planned to introduce guidance that critics said would lead to different sentences for defendants depending on their age, sex and ethnicity. But the independent body "caved to government pressure" last night, after the justice secretary threatened to use emergency legislation to overrule the new guidelines.

What was due to happen?
The council's updated guidelines for judges and magistrates in England and Wales, which were due to come into force today, advised courts to consider pre-sentence reports before handing out punishments to people from 10 categories – including women, young adults and those from ethnic or religious minorities.

But after widespread criticism from both Labour and the Conservatives, amid accusations of "two-tier justice", it has suspended the guidance.

Why were the changes proposed?
"You are more likely to receive a custodial sentence if you are from an ethnic minority group," said Stephen Bush in the Financial Times, "even after controlling for various offender and case characteristics". It is this disparity that the council was seeking to address.

Other categories in the now-suspended guidance included primary carers, victims of domestic abuse or trafficking, addicts and people suffering a serious chronic medical condition.

What was the backlash?
Shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick said the guidance showed a "blatant bias against Christians and straight white men", while making a custodial sentence "less likely" for those from an ethnic or religious minority.

That was a "gross oversimplification", said Joshua Rozenberg in the Law Gazette. But Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood "allowed herself to be wound up". On 20 March, she "fired off a letter" to the Sentencing Council that argued the guidelines would "create a justice system where outcomes could be influenced by race, culture or religion". This "differential treatment" was "unacceptable", she said, as "equality before the law is the backbone of public confidence in our justice system".

The council said it still believed the guidelines were "necessary and appropriate", but that it would put the implementation on hold to avoid a "potentially chaotic process" while the justice secretary's bid to outlaw the guidance was considered in Parliament.

If you live in the Swiss town of Neuchâtel and life is getting you down, you might be offered a "novel medical option: expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free", said The Associated Press.

In a two-year pilot project, local and regional authorities are bankrolling "museum prescriptions" from doctors who believe their patients could benefit from visits to such institutions.

'Find a little beauty'
The Swiss project is a response to a World Health Organization report that found that arts can boost mental health, reduce the impact of trauma and lower the risk of cognitive decline, frailty and "premature mortality". Officials say it is a relatively cheap programme that, if successful, could be expanded to other artistic activities such as theatre or dance.

"Probably the biggest benefit" of the museums prescriptions, said Vice, will be "giving people a reason to get out of the house" and "do something interesting". It's "not a cure", but it is "a nice way to get moving" and "find a little beauty" in an "otherwise dreary world".

'No consistent evidence'
This alternative approach to traditional medicine, known as "social prescribing", is gaining increasing traction across the globe. In the UK, nearly 2,000 surgeries have signed up to prescribe parkruns to NHS patients after the running organisation teamed up with the Royal College of GPs.

Social prescribing goes beyond just physical benefits, said the NHS. It "connects people to activities, groups, and services in their community" to help "meet the practical, social and emotional needs" that "affect their health and well-being". Trials have begun to see whether "comedy on prescription" can help improve people's mental health, said Sky News, and gardening projects have also been taking referrals from GPs and dementia advisers. 

Yet it is far from a panacea. In 2022, a major review found "no consistent evidence" that social prescribing improves social support or physical function, or reduces the use of primary care services, said Pulse Today. There are "reasons for thinking in principle that it might be useful", said Professor Peter Tyrer, from Imperial College London. "But only when it is given by competent people that are adequately trained and have a clear therapeutic policy."

There's something "eternally appealing" about escaping to a "remote, timber-clad cabin", said Condé Nast Traveller. Many of these cosy boltholes combine the "style and glamour" of a hotel with the "delicious isolation" of a tucked-away rural lodge. Here are some of the best.

Elmley Nature Reserve, Kent
This "charming" collection of cabins and shepherd's huts is set "slap-bang in the middle" of Elmley Nature Reserve on the Isle of Sheppey, said Condé Nast Traveller. "Ideal for both bird lovers and lovebirds", the remote location means there aren't any restaurants nearby, but guests can order "wholesome and delicious hampers" directly to their cabin.

The Tawny, Staffordshire
Set in 70 acres of tranquil Staffordshire countryside, this "deconstructed hotel" has a handful of "low-impact cabins" dotted throughout the grounds, said The i Paper. The shepherd's huts (pictured above) are tucked among the trees a short walk from the lake, and each has a wood-burning stove, underfloor heating and a private deck with an outdoor tin bath.

Cuan Mor Lodges, County Down
Just half an hour from Belfast, Strangford Lough is the biggest sea inlet in the British Isles. The beautiful conservation zone is home to an array of wildlife, from porpoises and seals to birds and badgers. On its shores lies Cuan Mor – an idyllic collection of "red timber cabins for nature lovers to hide away in", said The Guardian. Perched around a "lily-pad-strewn lake", the cabins have wooden decks and shared use of a jetty: an ideal setting for "sipping a nightcap and toasting s'mores over the firepit".

I watched Adolescence with my teenage children – it wasn't easy
Keir Starmer in Metro
"It's far from easy viewing", writes the prime minister, but "Adolescence" is "impactful" drama. The series "shines a light" on the "devastating effect of misogyny" and the "dangers of online radicalisation" and makes "clear" that "one of the greatest dangers" to the young "isn't on our streets – it's in the home". So I'm "delighted" that Netflix is to make it available to view for free in all secondary schools. This will help start "conversations we need to be having" in our country's classrooms.

Whisper it, but the tide might just be turning against Putin
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon in The Telegraph
"The Kremlin is nervous", writes Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, because "within Russia's top brass, the knives are out for their leader". Vladimir Putin knows he's "vulnerable" amid anger "within Russian society" about the Ukraine conflict, but what will worry him "the most" is the "impatience" of Donald Trump. Putin's vulnerability could be "pivotal" in altering the course of the war, but "the question is whether the West will seize the moment".

Starmer copies the Tories in misrepresenting migration
Morning Star's editorial board
The prime minister's "anti-refugee summit picks up where the Tories left off", portraying "unauthorised migration" as a "national crisis", says the Morning Star. Migration is "driven by war, poverty and climate change", and Britain doesn't even "take in significant numbers of refugees", with most ending up in "states neighbouring those they have fled". Keir Starmer's claim that those who do come here are a "security threat comparable to terrorism is reckless scaremongering".